Title

Author

Date of Submission

Spring 2012

Academic Program

Historical Studies; Sociology

Project Advisor 1

Allison McKim

Project Advisor 2

Gregory Moynahan

Abstract/Artist's Statement

The state of Sweden has a long reputation of egalitarian and progressive policies that have constituted what is called ‘the Swedish Way’ and has been imported to the rest of the world. The country’s model of ender equality has become the cornerstone of their progressive vision of a nation. Sweden has enjoyed decades of an expansive and liberal welfare state that has brought a middle-class standard of living to the country. The government has used parental leave legislation in order to govern the population of citizens to create dual-earner, dual-carer families. However, in recent years there has been an unprecedented level of immigration from countries that are culturally distant from Sweden, changing the demographic, religious and cultural makeup of the nation. Sweden has used a combination of legislation and welfare expansion in order to normalize outside ethnic groups through the statewide governance of gender.